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Muscat

Travoley
Muscat
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Muscat Travel Guide

  • About Muscat
Stretching almost 25km (15.5 miles) along the Omani coastline, Muscat is a taste of real Arabia, and despite a recent Dubai-style building blitz, it’s a capital city that has retained all of its old-world charm. That’s because, unlike the Emirati city, most of the new buildings are less than three-storeys high and the historic Mutrah district remains much the same as it has for generations. One of Arabia’s prettiest cities, Muscat life is dominated by the old corniche, a picturesque stretch of seafront that is fringed by 18th-century buildings and dominated by the imposing 17th century Mutrah Fort. By day, the harbour is awash with locals selling everything from bread to Sheikh salt pots, but by night it rings to the sound of locals chewing the fat and enjoying the cool twilight breeze. Away from the corniche, there’s plenty to see – not least the tiny Bayt al-Baranda, a quirky little museum charting the city’s cultural history. Then, there’s the mighty National Museum which focuses on Muscat’s role in the Omani empire, which stretched as far as East Africa. Here, history is brought to life with a dazzling collection of jewels (among them ruby encrusted daggers and elaborate emerald necklaces) that were amassed by the Sultan. The current Sultan, Qaboos bin Said Al Said, shares the magnificent Al Alam Palace with the rest of the Omani royal dynasty. Flanked by Forts Al-Jalali and Al-Mirani, the palace is closed to the public but worth visiting for the architecture alone, as is the city’s other main focal point, the Grand Mosque. Just as important as the sightseeing is the shopping and no visit would be complete without a trip to the Mutrah souk. Here, you’ll find everything from leather babouche slippers to pink plastic mosque alarm clocks, as well as plenty of vendors ready to indulge in a spot of haggling. For authentic charm, few places come close to Muscat – and the beaches aren’t half bad either.
  • Muscat History
It has been the capital of an empire, and latterly a sultanate, but for centuries, Muscat was barely noticed by the outside world. The first mention came from Ptolemy in writings dating from 2BC. Despite his best efforts, the city slipped back into obscurity, with no further mentions until well into the 13th century. As a result, little is known about Muscat’s formative years, but what is certain is that by the dawn of the 14th century, it was a trading port of some significance. It success, however, also made it a target and the Portuguese seized control of the city in the 1580s. But they weren’t the only ones with designs on Muscat and the Portuguese were forced to construct the city walls along with Fort al-Jalali to protect themselves from the Ottoman Turks. Although the Ottomans were unsuccessful, the local Yaruba dynasty was not and in 1649, they booted out the Portuguese. In the years that followed Muscat became one of the foremost ports in the Indian Ocean but it was twice convulsed by civil war before falling to the Persians in 1743. Free once more, Muscat became Oman’s capital city in 1793 and it soon grew in influence and prosperity, with its rulers racking up an empire that extended as far as Africa. But Africa was also to prove the city’s undoing and when Said bin Sultan took control of Zanzibar and moved his capital to Stone Town, Muscat’s fortunes dwindled. In the 19th century, the British arrived, using Muscat as a major staging point between their interests in India, Africa and the Middle East. These interests included the formerly Omani island of Zanzibar and as a result, the city suffered an economic slump. As the city grew poorer, tribal attacks increased and the Sultan was twice forced to get help from the British in 1915 and 1963. The rise of Sultan Qaboos, however, brought prosperity, peace and an extensive building programme which reshaped the city into the modern metropolis it is today.
  • Did you know?
Actress Isla Fisher was born in Muscat. Muscat is home to the world’s largest marble mosaic. It measures 8.30 m (27 ft 2.77 in) in height and 5.30 m (17 ft 4.66 in) in width and depicts His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said. Muscat Gate was still in use up until the 1970s.
  • Weather in Muscat
The best time to Muscat is between mid-October and mid-March when the weather is perfect and the evenings cool. This is the time when the city blooms with long ribbons of petunias along the highways, the sky is azure blue, the mountains sharply in focus and the sea calm and inviting. For the other seven months of the year, the heat can be ferocious and the humidity dense enough to taste.

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